Even if you’ve memorized the Declaration of Independence, the more interesting story happened around the document. The real men of the Second Continental Congress dealt with the monumental task of rallying the American colonists, justifying treason, and setting the foundation for a brand-new nation in a simple document they could all agree on.

However, in order to get all the colonies to agree, any reference to slavery was deleted. This only postponed the settlement of the matter for a few decades, in a war which claimed the lives of 750,000 soldiers (and quite a few civilians).